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SharePoint setup, intranet design & migration

"We have SharePoint, but it looks like 2005." We fix that.

A blank team site is not an intranet. We design a branded, modern intranet your people actually open in the morning — news, navigation, documents in one place — and we migrate everything from file servers, Google Drive or Dropbox without losing a file or a workday. All on the Microsoft 365 licenses you already pay for.

2–4 wksfrom kickoff to intranet go-live
100%built on licenses you already own
−35%"where is that file?" IT tickets
What we deliver

An intranet people use, and a migration nobody notices.

Three outcomes, one project: a home page worth opening, documents that behave, and every old file exactly where it should be.

01

Modern branded intranet

A company home in SharePoint that looks like your company, not a template.

  • Communication sites with your colors & logo
  • Hub navigation that mirrors how you work
  • News, events & announcements in one feed
  • Company branding consistent on every site
02

Document management done right

Libraries that end the folder maze — and the "final_v7" era with it.

  • Document libraries structured by how teams work
  • Metadata & views instead of ten-deep folders
  • Versioning that keeps one source of truth
  • Permissions baseline set once, on groups
03

Migration without the mess

File server, Google Drive, Dropbox or SharePoint on-prem → SharePoint Online.

  • Full inventory & mapping before anything moves
  • Cleanup & restructure during the move, not after
  • Permissions remapped to Microsoft 365 groups
  • Zero-downtime cutover with a final delta sync
Intranet & migration, in depth

How we build the intranet — and move you into it

Intranet design & development

Out-of-the-box first. Custom code only where it earns its keep.

Modern SharePoint is genuinely good now — communication sites, flexible sections, news rollups, events and people web parts cover most of what an intranet needs. We start there, because out-of-the-box means faster launch, lower cost and zero maintenance when Microsoft updates the platform.

When there is a real gap — a bespoke dashboard, a directory with your quirks, an integration Microsoft doesn't ship — we build SPFx custom web parts that survive updates. Then we brand the whole thing with your colors and logo, make it mobile-ready by default, and surface it inside Microsoft Teams through Viva Connections so the intranet lives where your people already work.

  • Out-of-the-box web parts first; SPFx only when needed
  • Branding with your colors, logo & typography
  • Mobile-ready pages, no separate app to maintain
  • Viva Connections: your intranet inside Teams

Intranet building blocks

Company homeNews · events · quick links
Department sitesHR · Finance · Ops
Policy & SOP librarySearchable, versioned
People directoryWho does what
Teams integrationViva Connections
Document management

One library architecture. One current version. Zero guessing.

Most "SharePoint problems" are really document management problems: libraries copied from a 2009 file server, folders twelve levels deep, and six copies of the same proposal. We design library architecture from scratch — which libraries exist, what lives in each, and which metadata replaces which folders — so structure matches how your teams actually work.

On top of that we configure content types for your key documents, approval and check-out where control matters, and records handling where regulation demands it. The result: every document has one home, one current version, and a history you can trust.

  • Library architecture mapped to teams & processes
  • Content types for contracts, policies & project docs
  • Approval flows & check-out where control matters
  • Records & retention for the documents auditors ask about

Before → after

final_v7_FINAL(2).docx chaosVersioned single source
12-level folder mazeMetadata + views
Permissions per personOne group baseline
"Ask Dave where it is"Found in search, 3 sec
Attachments by emailOne shared link
Migration engineering

Planned like an engineering project. Because it is one.

A migration is not "copy the files over." It starts with a full inventory: every share, folder, owner, permission and last-modified date, mapped to its destination in the new structure. Dead content gets archived, duplicates get resolved, and the mess you have today does not get faithfully reproduced in the cloud.

We run the bulk move with ShareGate and Microsoft's native migration tooling, remap permissions onto Microsoft 365 groups, then schedule a cutover weekend: a final delta sync catches everything changed since the bulk copy, sources go read-only, and Monday morning your team opens SharePoint with everything in place. User comms are part of the plan — everyone knows what moves, when, and where to find it after.

  • Inventory & mapping of every share and owner
  • ShareGate + Microsoft migration tooling
  • Permission remapping onto Microsoft 365 groups
  • Delta sync & cutover weekend — zero downtime
  • User comms: what moves, when, where it lands

Migration checklist

Inventory & destination mappingWeek 1
Cleanup: archive & de-duplicateDuring move
Bulk copy & permission remapShareGate
Delta sync & cutoverWeekend
Validation & user commsDay 1 ready
How it works

From first call to launch day

Free audit call

30 minutes on your current setup, what's moving and what the intranet needs to do. No obligation.

Design & architecture

Site map, hub structure, library architecture and a migration mapping — reviewed with you before anything is built.

Build & brand

Communication sites, navigation, news and web parts assembled and branded with your colors and logo.

Migrate & validate

Bulk copy, permission remap, delta sync and a cutover weekend — with validation checks before anyone is switched over.

Launch, train & adopt

Go-live comms, role-based training for users and site owners, and champions coached so adoption sticks.

Case studies

Intranets launched, files moved, nothing lost

Industrial distributor · 200 people

1.2 million files off a dying file server in four weeks.

Problem: A 12-year-old on-prem file server was out of space and out of warranty, with 1.2M files, 15 years of duplicates and permissions nobody could explain.

We did: Full inventory and mapping, archived 40% as dead content, migrated the rest with ShareGate into a new library architecture, remapped permissions to groups and cut over on a weekend with a final delta sync.

1.2Mfiles migrated
0 hrsbusiness downtime
40%dead weight archived
Law firm · 60 people

A branded intranet that passed the records audit.

Problem: The firm's "intranet" was a bare SharePoint 2013 team site nobody opened, while client files lived in folders with no versioning — a problem their records compliance review flagged.

We did: Designed a branded communication-site intranet with matter-based navigation, rebuilt document libraries with content types and versioning, and applied retention labels that satisfied the records requirements.

3 wksto intranet go-live
100%matters versioned
0records audit findings
Nonprofit · 45 people

Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 without losing a grant file.

Problem: The organization got Microsoft 365 through nonprofit licensing but everything — grants, board docs, program files — lived in Google Drive with tangled sharing and no structure.

We did: Mapped every shared drive to a SharePoint destination, migrated with ownership and sharing remapped to Microsoft 365 groups, built a simple branded intranet home, and trained staff in two live sessions.

380Kfiles moved from Drive
$0extra license spend
2 wksDrive to done
Industries we serve

Different industries. Same "where do I find that?" intranet.

The content changes — SOPs, policies, matter files, spec sheets — but the project is the same: a branded home your people actually open, and a migration that moves years of files without losing a workday. Here's how it lands in the sectors we work with most.

Manufacturing

Plant SOPs, safety notices and shift news on one intranet home — with 15 years of file-server history migrated without stopping a line.

Healthcare & clinics

Versioned policy and procedure libraries, announcements that reach every clinic, and migrations that respect patient-data boundaries.

Professional services

Client and engagement sites behind a branded home page, with legacy archives migrated into a structure new joiners get on day one.

Construction & engineering

Project sites for drawings and submittals, mobile-ready for the field, with old project shares migrated job by job.

Nonprofits & associations

Google Drive or file-server content moved onto nonprofit-licensed Microsoft 365, with a simple branded intranet staff and volunteers actually use.

Retail & hospitality

Store communications, HR policies and training materials on one intranet — reachable from front-of-house, not just head office.

Tools & technology

The Microsoft stack we work in every day

Intranet and migration projects run on the platform you already own — plus the migration tooling that makes big moves fast, safe and reversible.

SharePoint Online Communication & Team sites Hub sites & mega menus SPFx web parts Viva Connections Document libraries & metadata Version history & co-authoring ShareGate Microsoft migration tooling (SPMT) Permission & security groups Branding & theming Multilingual sites Microsoft Search OneDrive for Business
FAQ

Intranet & migration questions, answered

How long does a SharePoint migration take?
A typical file-server or Google Drive migration for a 50–200 person company takes two to four weeks end to end: one week for inventory and mapping, one to two weeks for the bulk copy and cleanup, and a cutover weekend with a final delta sync. Very large or heavily regulated data sets take longer, and we tell you the real number after the inventory — not before.
Will links to our old files break after migration?
Internal SharePoint links are remapped during the move, and Microsoft 365 keeps document links working when files are renamed or moved inside SharePoint Online. For links that point at old file-server paths or Drive URLs, we produce a redirect map and update the high-traffic ones — bookmarks, intranet pages, wikis and process docs — so day one after cutover feels normal, not broken.
Can we keep our existing folder structure in SharePoint?
You can, but you usually should not copy it one-to-one. Deeply nested folders are the main reason old intranets fail: paths exceed limits, permissions fragment and search gets worse. We keep the structure people rely on, flatten the rest, and replace folder mazes with metadata and views — so finding a file stops depending on remembering where someone filed it in 2019.
Do we need SPFx or custom code for a modern intranet?
Usually not. Modern SharePoint communication sites, hub navigation, news, events and branding cover most intranets out of the box — which keeps costs down and upgrades painless. We reach for SPFx custom web parts only when there is a genuine gap, like a bespoke dashboard or an integration Microsoft does not offer, and we build them so they survive Microsoft 365 updates.
What training do our people get after launch?
Every intranet and migration project ends with role-based training: short live sessions for everyday users on finding, saving and sharing files; deeper sessions for site owners on pages, news and permissions; and quick-reference guides your IT can reuse. We also nominate and coach champions in each department, because adoption sticks when help sits two desks away.
Can our intranet match our company branding?
Yes. We apply your colors, logo and typography through SharePoint's theming engine, so the home page, department sites and libraries all look like your company — not a Microsoft template. Most branding needs are covered within what SharePoint theming supports, which keeps the intranet upgrade-safe; when a design element genuinely needs more, we build it as an SPFx component engineered to survive Microsoft 365 updates.
What happens to our old file server after migration?
It goes read-only, not straight to the shredder. After cutover we freeze the old file server (or Drive) as a read-only reference for an agreed period — typically 30 to 90 days — so anything unexpected can be checked against the source. Only after your team has validated that everything landed in SharePoint correctly do we decommission it. Nothing is deleted until you have signed off.
Related services

Where an intranet project usually leads next

Ready for an intranet your team actually opens?

Book a free 30-minute call. We'll look at your current setup — file server, Drive, old SharePoint, whatever it is — and tell you exactly what a modern intranet and clean migration would take. No obligation.

Chat with us